Warm weather reading

(July will be spent reading on this beach on beautiful Lake Huron) A colleague of mine, who is studying to be a children’s librarian, was slightly flummoxed the other day when she happened upon an online book list titled “Warm weather fiction for boys.” I suppose the author thought that boys wouldn’t like the term [...]

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“eccentrics and eccentricities–fiction”

Novels don’t often receive subject headings when they are cataloged, but two of my favorite books received this gem: “eccentrics and eccentricities–fiction.” And it couldn’t be more appropriate. (last summer’s foray to BBB&B land – the Strait of Georgia) The books in question are Bachelor Brothers’ Bed & Breakfast and Bachelor Brothers’ Bed & Breakfast [...]

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Reading, now in Wisconsin

Apologies for the blog silence! I see that some of you have taken a look at my Family History Archive project page, and I’ve got some new (real-life and online) friends, so I thought I’d pick up the proverbial pen and start blogging again! I’m looking forward to getting back to it. Since I last [...]

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Why Toronto is cooler than Ottawa

(or, my last stop at Doors Open Toronto, 2010 edition) Reason 1: There is a new, totally awesome green roof and public garden at City Hall: Reason 2: The public garden is equipped with these excellent bins, with space for recycling and organic waste! Here in Ottawa, I’m still waiting for organics pick-up at my [...]

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More open doors

After my visits to Campbell House and the Canada Life building, I headed to Osgoode Hall. There was a great self-guided tour of the courtrooms, Great Library, and the formal rooms used by the Law Society of Upper Canada, and I really appreciated the open, friendly atmosphere as people were welcomed into a public space [...]

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Torontonians

In the spirit of my current read, The Complete Tightwad Gazette (more to come on that later, I promise), I headed out for some free fun this past weekend on a visit to Toronto. It was Doors Open weekend! (I am not sure if I need to explain this, since I am almost certain that [...]

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and finally, Hapsburg library grandeur

Last in this series of European National Libraries is the Austrian National Library in Vienna. Like most things in Vienna, it’s massive, monumental, and maybe even slightly over the top: Once again, we didn’t actually go in – we preferred to spend our time eating Wiener schnitzel and ice cream cones, and gazing at huge [...]

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I hope you have a library card, ’cause I’m sure Czeching you out!

(I thought my Dad, like Dads everywhere, would appreciate that joke . . . ) Here’s me in front of the National Library of the Czech Republic: It’s inside this beautiful building, the Klementinum. (Yes, the building really is that yellow, and the sky is that blue- I think Prague is the most beautifully coloured [...]

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Race Cars, but no books – more national libraries

On a sunny, blisteringly hot Sunday in July, we stopped by the National Széchényi Library, which is in the castle district of Buda. We had expected it to be closed, but we had no idea that it would be overrun by a street fair celebrating the Hungarian Grand Prix. So no books, but we got [...]

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Nostalgia for National Libraries in Summer

The hot weather last weekend made me nostalgic for my trip to Europe last summer, which included more library content than your average sun-baked, ice-cream soaked jaunt through the former Eastern bloc. Here’s the National and University Library of Slovenia, one of the most well-known buildings in Ljubljana. From the outside: It was designed by [...]

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